


Time's a Distance

by sal_si_puedes



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: FaceTiming, Fluff, M/M, Sappy, Time Difference, cellphone conversations, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:47:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27366778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sal_si_puedes/pseuds/sal_si_puedes
Summary: Joe and Nicky are on separate missions - Joe's in London, and Nicky's in New York. They still talk to each other all the time, though.Time difference schmoop. Or fluff. Or both.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 21
Kudos: 158





	Time's a Distance

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something I wrote and posted on tumblr a while ago, but I never put it here. Now I've given it a little once-over - and here it is. :)

The sound of his cell phone buzzes him awake, way too early, of course, in the wee hours of the morning. Joe comes to slowly. Yesterday was a long day, and then there were those couple of beers and shots, too, at that bar, with some guys he’d met on this undercover job, and he’s still not very much awake when he reaches for his phone. Because of those drinks it is, at least that's what he tells himself, that he has to narrow his eyes a little, despite his 20/20 vision, to make out who’s calling. Even though there can only be one person on the other side of the line, and once it is confirmed, Joe smiles.

“Hey, my heart,” he mumbles, accepting the call. “’s up?”

“You went out last night,” Nicky states, and Joe’s smile deepens.

“You know I did,” he says, sitting up and running his palm over his mouth. “I called you when I got home.”

“Yeah,” Nicky says, and Joe presses the phone a little closer to his ear. Nicky’s voice is lovely, and the vibrations it sends tickle Joe a little more awake. “I remember. Vaguely.”

“You were on the way to the gym,” Joe smiles, leaning back against the headboard. “When I called you.”

“Yeah,” Nicky says again, and Joe can tell that Nicky’s tired. “I was.”

“Face time?” Joe runs his fingers through his hair and blinks. Once, twice, three times. He’s ready for this, even though he hasn’t had his tea yet. Nor his coffee. But he will always be ready for Nicky.

“Okay,” Nicky says after the briefest of pauses. “Wait.”

“You don’t need to get dressed for this,” Joe chuckles, running his fingers through his hair once more. “I’m still in my—”

From the corner of his eye Joe can see that something’s happening on his cell’s screen, and his smile deepens even more. He sits up as straight as he can and cradles his cell in his hands.

“Hi, my love.”

And Nicky is there, right there, on that small screen in his hands. He's already in bed, leaning against the headboard, just like Joe. And he is beautiful.

“You’re so beautiful,” Joe says, and Nicky’s lips curl into a grin.

“And you have bed hair.”

“I do not.” Joe tries to sound indignant, but the way Nicky tilts his head and just looks at him blows all his defenses.

“Yeah, you do.”

“Yeah, I do.” Joe brings his phone to his lips and places a gentle kiss on the screen. “You’re still beautiful, though.”

Nicky smiles, but from the way he blinks more often than usually, Joe knows he must be tired.

“You should go to sleep, my love,” Joe says, and he already anticipates the slightly amused scoff on the other side of the line.

“Look who’s talking.”

“Hey! I just woke up. Or more precisely, you just woke me up, so…”

“Hmmmm,” Nicky hums, and Joe can hear how exhausted Nicky really is. “Kiss me good night, then?”

“Always,” Joe says, bringing his lips to the screen once more.

“But before, tell me what your day’ll be like, ‘kay?”

“As always,” Joe says, and his smile turns into a slight frown and sigh. “Work. And… Waiting for the day I can come home to you.”

“Soon,” Nicky smiles, and Joe watches him slide down the headboard of his bed and into his pillows. “Soon. Yes?”

“Yes,” Joe nods, and for a moment there’s a blur on the screen, bed linens, Nicky’s hair and then his fingers. “You’re tired. Go to sleep.”

“I will,” Nicky says, and his eyes are threatening to flutter shut on the screen in Joe’s hands. “But kiss me good night once more….”

“I will”, Joe echoes, and his lips find Nicky’s face a third time.

“And go get up and have some tea. Or coffee. Or both. And do something about that hair of yours. You look ridiculous.”

Nicky yawns, causing Joe’s smile to broaden.

“Look who’s talking.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nicky slurs, and all Joe sees after that is a blur of washed-out color. “I’ll keep you close to my heart,” Joe hears, or at least that’s what he thinks Nicky is saying. He can’t be sure, of course, since Nicky’s phone has to be nestled against Nicky’s chest by now. At least that’s what it looks like. And maybe, just maybe, Joe can hear how Nicky smacks his lips.

“Sleep well, my heart,” he says, bringing his phone to his chest as well as he sinks back down into his pillows, just for another moment or three. “Soon. Very soon.”

~fin~

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [sal-si-puedes]() on tumblr. Come and say "Hi!"! :)


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